The last 24 hours have proved quite busy for regional concert announcements, and we’re happy to say the news isn’t about bands skipping DC as they galavant around the country. Earlier this morning the 9:30 Club’s Seth Hurwitz announced the newly reformed Police and Smashing Pumpkins, along with the Beastie Boys, as the headliners for this year’s Virgin Fest, now to be a two-day event held on August 4th and 5th at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. The festival’s inaugural edition was just a one day affair last September, but Hurwitz decided to move the date up this year in order to accommodate The Police. The rest of the lineup has yet to be announced but each day will feature two stages with twelve bands each.

Ticket prices and onsale dates are also still mum, but it’s reasonable to assume tickets will be even more expensive than last year’s $100, given that The Police are charging fans anywhere from $50 to $420 on their upcoming reunion tour. It’s also the Pumpkins first US show in quite some time. Whether anyone cares is up for discussion, however. It’s also worth noting that this year’s V Fest falls on the same weekend as Chicago’s Lollapalooza, but at least we won’t have to worry about it conflicting with Rosh Hashana. Last year’s V Fest was a well run and lots of fun, but I imagine most Police fans won’t be happy that the group’s only announced area appearance will be outside in the robust August heat as opposed to the climate controlled confines of somewhere like the Verizon Center.

Also announced, but not yet confirmed, is a July 2nd date for Morrissey at Wolf Trap in Vienna. I spoke with someone from the venue today and they informed me that “no specific event information is available at this time,” but that Wolf Trap’s 2007 event schedule would be unveiled next Monday and more information might be available then. Tickets for most of the other confirmed Morrissey dates go on sale March 31st, so stay tuned.

And one final bit of upcoming musical goodness — tickets to Ben Gibbard’s solo show at the 9:30 Club on May 10 with Jonathan Rice sold out in such a speedy manner that the bespectacled singer was swayed to add a second show to his stop in D.C. Rather than two nights, he’ll do back-to-back early and late shows. I hope there’s plenty of hot tea on his rider; singing two sets that close together can’t be easy on anyone’s vocal chords. If you’re a member of the DCFC fan club, tickets went on sale yesterday. To those of us not represented in DCFC Union Local #1138, tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

Amanda Mattos contributed to this post